


watch the way i navigate

by reinacadeea



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: M/M, fic prompt, for an anon on tumblr, i live for drama and angst, let there be many more (of the good kind), the great first fight of 2017
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-21
Updated: 2017-01-21
Packaged: 2018-09-19 01:14:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9410984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reinacadeea/pseuds/reinacadeea
Summary: robert excels at destroying people's lives.for anon





	

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt idea: Robert's dark side emerges because of Finn's refusal to help Aaron. Finn threatened his happiness, so Rob sets out to destroy his, leaving no traces-the taxi business drastically loses custom, Emma is under inquiry for malpractice, and Kasim is suddenly getting a lot of attention from a new attractive fellow named Connor. To top it all off, all the Dingles have turned on his family, making village life icy at best, and downright hazardous at worst, while Robert watches it all unfold.
> 
> this is probably not what you wanted. but i liked the thought nonetheless. run with it :)

\--  
It plays out in his head. 

It’s well after midnight and the bed is too empty, too large. He tries to spread out, but he has become so used to the presence of someone else in bed beside him that it feels awkward and uncomfortable being alone. All he has is his head. 

It would be easy, too easy, to destroy the little Barton. A few well-placed calls to a couple of business connections in town and Hotten Taxi will be back in business in the Emmerdale area without much fanfare. A rumour here and a rumour there. A whisper in Pearl’s ears or a well-placed nudge in Harriet’s congregation, the elderly ladies who can whisper a mile a minute. The Barton Brothers would be out of business without Robert having to lay a hand on Finn. Ross has lost a lot of his confrontational edge since he got caught out. 

It’s no secret anymore, not in the village, that Robert loves Aaron. Ross has nothing but a mouth full of snark and a broken relationship that Robert tore apart in a night. It’s laughable.

Or, he could go at Emma instead. He sees her madness, stays clear of her. But she has been honest when she didn’t have to be and he respects that. He could make a call or two to a mate in the city council, but no it’s too easy. 

He won’t even bother with Kasim. Finn is about as attractive as a baby duck and Kasim what’s-his-face is probably already running a mile. (Who keeps a creepy vigil besides someone they hardly know – yeah, Aaron told him about that one). But he could tear that apart, too, if he wanted. He knows people of all trades, the upright kind and the not-so-upright kinds. Having a ‘nice’ bloke lure Kasim away would be a piece of cake. No. It’s not worth his time. 

Cain has been on a particularly bad round of self-destructiveness lately and focusing that anger would be easy. Robert can relate to Cain on many levels, the repeated dejection by Moira is oddly reminiscent of the echoing statements of Aaron way back when. “Finn will send him to prison,” he would whisper in Cain’s ear. “Not prison, not again.” And Cain would risk everything, just like Robert would risk everything to keep Aaron out of prison. He could go to Charity, barter her time for some easy money and she would be an efficient and reliable partner-in-crime. Even Chas has the gene. Rallying the Dingles would be as easy as the pull of a pint. 

All of this and Robert’s hands would be stain-free while he would stand on the side lines laughing with a smile on his lips. 

He would. He will if anything goes south. 

A year ago, out of Aaron’s reach, and not a care in the world, nothing to lose but his dignity, and he would have been halfway through the list already. But that was a year ago. This is now and he has a terrible horrible feeling that he has messed up. 

“I didn’t mean any of it,” he told Vic earlier. “I mean I did. It wasn’t what I meant.”

She had put a hand on his arm, gently caressing it. “Aaron is sick, Rob. Him going from one extreme to the next, it’s what he does.”

“I know.” 

“You don’t have to do any of it. It’s not your responsibility to keep him safe from himself.”

He laughed long and hard. “Vic, I never had a choice. I can’t help it.”

How long would it have taken him before he had come back begging for Aaron to take him back? If the police hadn’t come and his ultimatums suddenly meant next to nothing. A day? An hour? The sickening realization that no matter how deep Aaron’s jealousy and insecurities run, he will make himself into something that he doesn’t recognise, for Aaron. It’s always for Aaron. 

It’s them and he knows that. He knows how deep this runs. 

But the two of them has never had it easy. Just like the demons running amok in Aaron’s head, so will the course of their relationship tune itself. He thought for just a little while that Aaron would talk, be honest, but… history, their history, has always proved them wrong on both sides. Always secrets. Always something simmering beneath the surface. 

He bumps into Liv in the kitchen downstairs, a vacant look in her eyes and a frown marring her face. 

“He’s been to prison before, Liv,” he tells her when she hands him a glass of water. “One night won’t do anything.” 

A lie. What a lie. 

“Did he really beat up Finn’s boyfriend?” she asks, voice small and almost scared. 

“Listen,” he says and her bright eyes looks up at him. “He will be out tomorrow and it’s going to be fine.”

“But Vegas…”

“Will still be there,” he reassures her. “Don’t worry.”

The place took off three hours ago. He watched the clock on his phone, watched their packed bags in the corner that he’s since pushed beneath the bed. He looked at Aaron’s cheap silly sunglasses and wished he hadn’t been so quick to dismiss Aaron that day. 

Hindsight is shit and especially because he is so spectacularly bad at sensing when he does something wrong. Some days it’s like rolling around in a minefield. Other days, he can tell by the tilt of Aaron’s lips what mood he’s in. Liv thinks Robert has some sort of superpower to gauge Aaron’s moods when the reality is that he’s been burned by Aaron’s mood swings more than most. 

He’s not Superman. He’s not the Emphatic Mr. Fox. 

He’s just Robert. 

The only superpower he has is tearing people’s lives apart. He excels at that. 

“I’ll go down to the station tomorrow,” he tells Liv and she nods. “We’ll figure it out.”

She looks doubtful. The truth is, though, is that she didn’t hear the argument and still believes that Robert is a good person who always makes up for his mistakes. He hasn’t crushed her yet, unwillingly or not. She’ll learn one day. But not this time. 

\--

fin (21-1-17)

**Author's Note:**

> i'm on tumblr as reinacadeea. come watch me blog and do stuff. or send me a message or two. i'm always up for those.


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